Colleagues, friends and fellow Nebraskans, it is my honor to welcome you today to our second annual State of the University Address. I wish to particularly thank our Regents and our legislators, community leaders, university leaders, faculty and staff for being here today, and for your partnership and shared vision as we continue on our Odyssey to the Extraordinary.
As we gather today in our State’s capitol, the house of the people, we have the opportunity reflect on the state of our university. I want to begin with where our mission ultimately lives and comes to life every day: in the communities, families and futures we nurture and build across Nebraska.
Last month, as I do every year, I had the opportunity to take part in one of my very favorite aspects of leading your University: visiting the communities we serve. Over several days, a group from the university and I traveled to Fremont, Blair, Wayne, South Sioux City, Concord, Royal and West Point. In each community, we met with civic and business leaders, legislators, educators, alumni, university partners and many friends.
And in each community, I opened with a few remarks, remarks that all began with a warm welcome, a question of how we can best support Nebraska communities and with the same assurance: a powerful assurance that the State of the University of Nebraska is strong.
It is true that this past year has brought its share of challenges. Those challenges have been covered in the press and debated on the floor of the Legislature and the U.S. Congress. They’ve touched every classroom, research laboratory, clinic and extension office. Indeed, they have touched every member of our campus community, and their impacts will continue to be felt across our system. But even as we have navigated challenge, we have also embraced incredible opportunity and made extraordinary strides. Yes, the mission is clear, and the University is strong.
Across our campuses in Lincoln, Omaha, Kearney and Curtis, as well as our 83 extension offices and many learning sites as far west as Scottsbluff, our faculty, staff and students are building on the university’s greatest areas of strength. Those areas include agriculture, national security, human performance, advanced technology, and health care, among many others. With our large and dynamic network of relationships and dedicated faculty and staff, the NU System remains a major driver of economic impact in Nebraska, returning more than $10 for every dollar of state investment, creating jobs across the state and contributing just last year over 11,000 college graduates to the workforce. We have achieved this ongoing growth despite more than a decade of budget reductions and other significant challenges, because of the creativity, resilience and dedication of our faculty and staff.
Today, I can say with confidence that we are making meaningful progress on the Odyssey to the Extraordinary that we first embarked upon together during my investiture in this historic space two years ago. The definition of extraordinary has truly come to life within the five foundational pillars of our system-wide planning and accountability, the very roadmap for our Odyssey together.
Consider what we have accomplished in these years.
We have advanced and recently completed efforts to jointly accredit the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and University of Nebraska Medical Center campuses, smoothing educational pathways for students and to more accurately reflect the true scope and impact of our educational and research programs.
In partnership with the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, a longstanding trusted bipartisan policy advisor, we hosted an international conference focused on the global bioeconomy, the opportunities it presents, and the convergence of resources, expertise and infrastructure that positions Nebraska to emerge as a well-deserved leader in this national and truly global space.
The University of Nebraska System’s Advanced AI Institute, which was announced last year and formally approved by our Board of Regents in June, is working across all of our campuses to connect researchers, share classroom resources and ensure our approach is ethical and human centered. The institute has already received funding from both the Nebraska Research Initiative and Google.
Last month, the University of Nebraska Foundation announced another year of record philanthropy: more than $500 million, made possible by nearly 60,000 individual donors, each of whom believes in the power of the university to change lives and ensure our state’s thriving future. This is an unquestionable mark of their generosity and their confidence.
And just last Tuesday afternoon, during a special meeting, the NU Board of Regents approved a new governance structure that adds the Omaha Community Foundation as a shared governing partner alongside the University of Nebraska, strengthening Nebraska Medicine for the future. This new model preserves our University’s academic, research and patient care missions with Nebraska Medicine and deepens a long-standing relationship with an incredible philanthropic community that has been instrumental in shaping the University of Nebraska System. This agreement sets the stage for continued growth for the future of our academic medical center, ensuring the all-important statewide health care workforce, expansion of life saving clinical research and as we say, “serious medicine and extraordinary care.” Donna Kush, president and CEO of the Omaha Community Foundation, representing the philanthropic community, was instrumental in nurturing this unprecedented partnership. Donna, will you please stand and be recognized?
And as we will report in the near future, the rate of degree completion across the entire University of Nebraska system, based on the increased average number of credit hours our students take each year, now exceeds over 600,000 in total, and the record numbers of students in our graduating classes, now exceeding 11,000, continue to accelerate. This trend is in spite of the large and growing number of students who juggle jobs and family responsibilities as they pursue their degrees.
Nowhere is the progress I have mentioned more evident than across our campuses. Let me share a small number of examples.
In Lincoln, UNL continues to show what it means to turn research into real results. For more than 20 years, the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools has reached more than 315,000 children and adolescents, 28,000 educators and nearly 3,300 schools and early childhood programs statewide. Under the leadership of Dr. Sue Sheridan, the center has launched the Nebraska Academy for Partnerships in Education Research — a public private model focused on solutions in areas including literacy, behavioral health, family-school partnerships and teacher workforce support led by Dr. Amanda Witte. Dr. Witte, please stand and let us congratulate you.
We also celebrated as Professor Edgar Cahoon, director of UNL’s Center for Plant Science Innovation, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the nation’s highest honors for scientists and engineers. Dr. Cahoon’s internationally recognized work in plant lipid biotechnology is advancing biofuels, strengthening crop resilience and helping develop more nutrient-dense grains — exactly the kind of discovery that begins in Nebraska and reaches far beyond.
At UNL we also marked another major research milestone: the establishment of the Atomically Engineered Materials Center, made possible by a highly competitive six-year, $18 million grant from the National Science Foundation, one of only six in the nation. Through this Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, under the leadership of Dr. Christian Binek, Nebraska researchers will explore quantum materials that are essential to the future of faster computing, more energy-efficient artificial intelligence and next-generation communications. This award builds on more than half a century of Nebraska leadership in materials science and positions our faculty, students and partners to help solve some of the most complex technological challenges ahead. Dr. Binek, please stand and let us congratulate you.
UNL’s College of Business, under the leadership of Dean Kathy Farrell, is home to undergraduate programs that continue to break records for enrollment, exceeding 900 students for three consecutive years. At the same time, the college’s online MBA program was ranked overall fifth best in the nation and the number one in best value in the nation by The Financial Times in 2025.
For decades, Nebraska Extension has served as a trusted bridge between Nebraskans and the university’s expertise. Over the past year, UNMC has begun working with Extension to connect Nebraskans across the state with resources to improve their health. One powerful example came through Nebraska’s pesticide applicator training sessions, where farmers and agricultural professionals complete their required certification. This year, UNMC’s Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, under the leadership of Dr. Joann Sweasy, partnered with Extension to provide evidence-based cancer prevention and screening information to more than 1,600 participants across 15 rural counties. Dr. Sweasy, please stand and let us congratulate you.
Nebraska Extension and our partnership with the Nebraska Association of County Extension Boards, chaired by Mr. Chris Keuhn, a farmer rancher from Kearney County, has also integral to our work across greater Nebraska. Our extension teams were central to Nebraska’s response to the historic wildfires that devastated parts of our state this spring. During and immediately after the fires, Extension connected affected Nebraskans with trusted resources and information, and continues to support impacted families and communities today. Mr. Kuehn, please stand and let us thank you for your partnership.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center, too, celebrates extraordinary impact.
This year, Americans across the country saw that impact firsthand when the federal government once again turned to UNMC and Nebraska Medicine during a serious infectious disease response. Eighteen Americans connected to a hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship were safely repatriated to Omaha, where they were cared for and monitored by world-class teams in the National Quarantine Unit and Nebraska Biocontainment Unit. Just as they had during Ebola and COVID-19, our experts answered the call with skill, compassion and calm leadership. Most importantly, all of those individuals eventually returned safely home. Drs. Angela Hewlett and Michael Wadman were instrumental in this incredible response; would you please stand and let us congratulate you.
This year, UNMC and Nebraska Medicine also marked 10 years of CAR T-cell therapy, a breakthrough cellular treatment developed and tested at UNMC that has transformed care for many patients and families facing cancer. Now, under the leadership of Dr. Matt Lunning, the application of this life-changing therapy has been applied to multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Over the past decade, this research has brought together clinicians, researchers, donors, caregivers and courageous patients who have helped move gene and cellular therapy from possibility to practice. Their stories remind us that innovation is not abstract; it is deeply human. Dr. Lunning, please stand and let us congratulate you.
UNMC also celebrated a remarkable milestone: Nebraska Medicine’s 10,000th solid organ transplant. From performing Nebraska’s first kidney transplant in 1970 to building one of the most respected transplant programs in the country, Nebraska Medicine and UNMC have helped more than 10,000 patients receive the gift of life, better health and renewed hope. Today, our transplant teams, under the leadership of department chair, Dr. Alan Langnas, an internationally regarded transplant surgeon, we continue to lead in kidney, liver, pancreas, intestinal, heart and lung transplantation, supported by the collaborative environment of the Lied Transplant Center and our incredibly talented transplant team. Dr. Langnas, please stand and be recognized for this momentous milestone.
And even as UNMC continues to deliver care and discovery at the highest levels, it also has received renewal of its Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. This objective, highly sought after honor affirms something we have long known: that our academic medical center is not separate from the communities it serves, but rather deeply embedded in them. UNMC is one of only a very, very small number of comparable academic medical centers in the country to hold this designation. That recognition reflects the last decade of demonstrated partnership across Nebraska, and it confirms that community engagement at UNMC is not symbolic. It is measurable, sustained and central to the mission.
Less than two miles away, at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, we see the power of a metropolitan university campus that is also deeply connected to the community it serves.
UNO, too, again earned the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement. This marks UNO’s third consecutive classification since first receiving the honor in 2006. And the numbers tell a remarkable story: thousands of community-engaged courses, tens of thousands of students gaining hands-on experience, and nearly 1,500 organizations served through the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center.
UNO is also expanding that work through Humanities in Action: The Maverick Internship Program, supported by a grant from the Mellon Foundation and led by Dean Melanie Bloom of the College of Arts and Sciences. The program will create paid, credit-bearing internship opportunities for humanities students, helping them apply the skills they build in the classroom — critical thinking, communication, ethical reasoning and problem-solving — in professional, civic and public-sector settings. This program serves as a reminder that the humanities are not separate from workforce development. They are central to preparing graduates who can lead, collaborate and serve with purpose. Dean Bloom, please stand and let us congratulate you.
Momentum is visible across UNO’s campus as well. This spring, UNO broke ground on an expansion of its Biomechanics Research Building, a project made possible through the generosity of Ruth Scott and the William and Ruth Scott Family Foundation. Biomechanics, under the leadership of Dr. Nick Stergiou, has become one of UNO’s signature areas of excellence, drawing national attention and major research support, including a multimillion-dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health. This expansion will help UNO continue advancing discoveries that improve health, mobility and quality of life for Nebraskans and people around the world. Dr. Stergiou, please stand and let us congratulate you.
And at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, we see the same spirit of momentum and service.
This year, ably assisted by the efforts of Vice Chancellor Kyle Meyer, UNK and UNMC formally celebrated the opening of the Douglas A. Kristensen Rural Health Education Complex, the largest rural health care teaching facility in the country. This $115 million complex expands opportunities for students to pursue health care careers in Kearney, close to the communities that shaped them. It brings new programs in medicine, pharmacy and public health to central Nebraska, while expanding allied health and nursing programs that are essential to meeting our state’s workforce needs.
This is more than a building. It is a promise to greater Nebraska: that students can train close to home, that communities can grow their own health care workforce, and that the University of Nebraska will continue to be a partner in solving one of the most urgent challenges facing our state. Dr. Meyer, please stand and thank you for your leadership in bringing this greater Nebraska program to life.
Speaking of Kearney, UNK is also strengthening Nebraska’s workforce and communities through the Nebraska Good Life Opportunities Program. This partnership between the Kearney and Omaha campuses prepares students for high-demand careers as city managers, urban and regional planners, non-profit managers, public policy administrators, community and economic development officials, among many others. Students within this program, led by Dr. Chuck Rowling, complete their undergraduate work at UNK, with guaranteed admission into the Master’s in Public Administration program at UNO. Dr. Rowling, please stand and let us congratulate you.
And UNK’s impact reaches deeply into the community in personal, human ways. Through free counseling services and programs like a Reminiscence Therapy Group Program for older adults, led by Kyle Harshbarger and Mason Morhain, both UNK graduate students, UNK is helping Nebraskans find support, connection and belonging. In those moments, our mission becomes clear: education is not only about preparing students for careers. It is about preparing them to improve lives. Mr. Harshbarger and Mr. Morhain, please stand and be recognized for your leadership.
This has also been an incredible year for our systemwide institutes. The National Strategic Research Institute, or NSRI, and the Nebraska Defense Research Corporation, or NDRC, have each recently been awarded 500 million dollars of future research potential contracts over the next decade. That’s one billion dollars of research jobs, discoveries, patents and more. That’s one billion dollars of research that protects our freedoms and those who wear the cloth of our nation, here and around the world. Our embedded partnership with the U.S. Airforce Center for the Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills, known as CSTARS, and the Nebraska Air National Guard continues to grow and thrive with the groundbreaking of the multimillion-dollar Infectious Diseases Air Transport Training Facility on the UNMC campus. The partnerships of the military with the Buffett Early Childhood Institute and the strengthened focus of the Daugherty Water for Food Institute on water and crop safety all underscore our well respected and growing leadership roles in national security.
And it is clear to all that our systemwide men’s and women’s athletic programs not only win championships on the gridiron, hardwood, on the track and on the mat, but continue to support record numbers of Academic all Americans and record-breaking grade point averages, academic retention and degree completion rates. Last Sunday in Las Vegas Husker Volleyball was just one example of both true athletic excellence and sportsmanship. We continue to embrace the true meaning of what it means to be a student athlete as we confront the headwinds and cross currents of the current collegiate athletics environment. My most sincere congratulations for our coaches and athletic directors and particularly to our students for maintaining this balance of excellence. Please let us thank and congratulate out three athletic directors Mr. Mark Bauer, Mr. Troy Dannen and Mr. Adrian Dowell for their dedication.
As you can see, across each of our systemwide campuses and institutes, our centers of excellence, colleges and schools, the throughline is clear: the University of Nebraska is changing lives, strengthening communities and helping our state meet challenges that no single institution, industry or community can solve alone. But that level of impact does not happen randomly or by accident. It depends on careful planning and meticulous program implementation. It depends on talented people, sustained partnerships and the resources necessary to keep moving forward.
That brings us to one of the most important conversations before us today: how we invest in the future of this university, and in turn, invest in and truly protect the future of Nebraska.
During the August meeting of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, the Regents approved our biennial budget request for the 2028 and 2029 academic years from the state of Nebraska, in a real sense, requesting dollars from myself and from each of you. For this biennium, we requested a 4.25 percent increase to our base budget for each of the next two years, as well as support in several strategic areas including scholarships for our most promising students, biomedical research, and replacement of critical aged-out software. This is a carefully considered request that reflects the average rate of consumer inflation over the past two biennia, addresses key needs and ultimately will help ensure we can continue delivering the teaching, research and outreach that every Nebraskan depends upon. It is critical to have a stable, predictable model to support our university that spans multiple biennia, allows families to understand and predict their educational costs, and most importantly, allows us to sustain and grow the economy of the state.
The University of Nebraska has long been a careful steward of the resources entrusted to us. Over the past decade, we have responded to repeated budget reductions by making difficult decisions while protecting the core of our mission: extraordinary teaching, life-changing research and meaningful engagement across Nebraska. As outlined in the story after story I have shared with you today and so many others, our faculty and staff have consistently found ways to do more with less. But after years of reductions, we have reached a point where continued cuts will unfortunately increasingly mean doing less for the people who depend on us. We have lost talented people and valuable programs that makes a difference for our students, our communities and our state.
The University of Nebraska System remains one of the state's strongest economic engines, generating more than a ten-to-one return on the state's investment. Put differently, for every taxpayer dollar that is appropriated each year, more than ten dollars are returned directly back to the state coffers. This economic return represents approximately 9% of the state’s gross domestic product, the highest percentage in the nation. By any measure, the university is a great investment for the next quarter and the next quarter century.
But that return is also reflected in our graduates who strengthen our workforce, innovations that foster entrepreneurship while improving agriculture and health care, other partnerships in businesses and the arts that keep our communities strong, and research that enhances our nation's security at a time of unprecedented domestic and global need.
The people and programs we have highlighted today are not isolated successes—they are the everyday work of this university. They are what Nebraskans expect from us, and they are what Nebraska needs us to continue delivering. As we welcome back returning students, faculty and staff, as we welcome in new learners from Nebraska and around the world, it is critical to secure their future, not just in the classroom, research laboratory or on the hardwood or gridiron, but secure their future as productive Nebraskans, who will chose to stay in our communities and pay forward the gift of higher education for generations to come.
Simply put, the vitality of our university depends on the vitality of the state, just as the vitality of our state depends on the vitality of its university. At a time of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, investing in the University of Nebraska is not just an investment in higher education—it is an investment in Nebraska's future, Nebraska’s workforce, economy, communities and an investment in generations to come.
Now is the time to tell the story of our university, here in this very building, but as well in every school room across the state, in every corporate board room and across every dinner table. If the University of Nebraska System has shaped your future, cared for someone you love, opened a door for your child, strengthened your community, supported your business or improved and or truly saved your life, now is the time to say so. Through our classrooms, our hospitals and clinics, 4-H, Nebraska Extension, through our research, innovation and service in every corner of the state, the University of Nebraska touches lives every day. And those stories deserve to be heard, need to be heard and repeated and repeated again and again.
Together, as a bold and clear chorus of strong individual voices, we can ensure that this university continues changing lives and strengthening our state and moving us ever closer to an extraordinary future. Nebraskans fully understand that when we till the soil together, literally shoulder to shoulder, we can, we do and will, forever, lead the world.
Thank you for joining us today and for all you do to make Nebraska strong.